Devil in the details

By Jon

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Brodeur tore his bicep and the Devils were supposed to implode. I mean, what are the Devils without their all-world backstop?

They were supposed to fall to the back of the pack of the already mediocre Eastern Conference. They were supposed to become an easy win for the Sabres.

Well, they didn't, and much of the credit goes to one man.

Meet Scott Clemmensen.



I love stories like Clemmensen's. Drafted in 1997, went to BC for four years, spent the next six years as a backup and a good AHL goalie on some terrible teams, but couldn't quite seem to crack the starting lineup on an NHL squad.

He was a victim of circumstance, really. He was drafted by the Devils, and everyone outside of Mrs. Clemmensen knew he never had a shot at making an impact with Brodeur at the helm. He went to the Leafs last year, but the two-headed monster of Raycroft and Toskala prevented him from seeing significant time.

So he finally gets his shot, and what does he do with it? 8-3, 2.43 GAA, and a .919 save percentage after stealing the job from Kevin Weekes in less than a week's time (no pun intended).

This game couldn't come at a worse time for the Sabres. A terrible loss on a fluky goal in your own barn before making a quick trip to beautiful Newark to take on the league's hottest team.

Gametime is at 7:00 on MSG.

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In other news, the Roost is credentialed!

We submitted a no-chance-in-hell-we-actually-get-it media pass request to the Albany River Rats PR director for tomorrow's game against Portland, and sure enough -- we got it!

I'm not sure exactly how I plan on covering the game for the Roost, but my game report will be posted by the fine folks at Maine Hockey Journal. If you haven't checked out their site, you are missing out.